Visitors
by EmeraldSeiji
Summary: When an ancient magic is awoken, the Titans get some visitors. Are they allies, enemies, or maybe even both? What adventures are in store? Chapter 7 is now up!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey everybody!! This story is going to be a crossover with the show Ronin Warriors (also known as Samurai Troopers). Ronin Warriors is a great anime series that was produced in 1988 about a group of teenagers that save the world from an evil demon warlord after they receive mystical samurai armors. The Ronins' names and powers are as follows: Ryo Sanada bears the Armor of Wildfire(fire), Sage Date bears the Armor of Halo(light), Rowan Hashiba bears the Armor of Strata(air), Kento Rei Faun bears the Armor of Hardrock(earth/stone), and Cye Mouri bears the Armor of Torrent(water). Let me know if you have any questions about it and I can try to answer them. I was just sitting around watching it when the idea for this came into my mind, so, let me know what you think!!! Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing of the Teen Titans or Ronin Warriors. I promise that I am not making any money off this, so please don't sue me, I am a poor college student.

Visitors

Chapter 1

_Titans Tower, Jump City_

Five teenaged super heroes sat around a table in the kitchen of the giant T shaped tower on the small island of Jump City eating a hearty breakfast of pancakes and orange juice. Beast Boy and Cyborg were glowering across the table at each other after having their traditional tofu/meat argument interrupted by Robin's temper as he was uptight about having to travel to Steel City to meet with the Titans East as soon as he and Cyborg finished their breakfast.

The two teenagers managed to escape from Jump City and actually make it quite a ways from the city limits before the blaring horn and flashing lights of the alarm went off in the relative quiet of the tower. Quickly Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy flew from the doors of the Tower towards the source of the alarm. Their flight was short and led them to a small site of an archaeological excavation just south of the city limits. At first glance, there appeared to be nothing wrong that would cause the alarm to go off. It was just a hole in the ground that was muddy after the rain that had struck the area the day before, and near the edge of one of the sides, a small pendant that seemed to be made out of some form of smooth crystal caught the light of the morning sun and reflected it into Beast Boys green eyes. As soon as the teens landed however, circumstances quickly went downhill.

As soon as the very tip of Starfire's purple booted foot touched the dirt floor of the shallow pit, the ground around them erupted and they were surrounded by dozens of beings with glowing red eyes and wearing dark forest green samurai armor carrying a variety of weapons from kusarogami (a scythe on the end of a chain that can be used for both long-range and close attacks) to swords and spears. All of the bristling soldiers and iron surrounding them set the three young Titans on their guard. As soon as one of the hostile strangers made a move that even resembled an attack, Raven's black power became visible behind her and she said, "TITANS GO!" in a slightly louder monotone than normal signaling a counter attack.

Altogether the soldiers in the dark green armor seemed to go down fairly easily, but getting them to stay down was another story. If they were lucky, they caught sight of a wisp of black smoke leaving the armor only to have it fall onto the ground uselessly, but more commonly the soldiers just picked themselves off the ground once more and continued to fight against the heroes.

"Dude!!," Beast Boy exclaimed loudly after trying taking down the soldiers with a T-Rex's teeth. "It doesn't matter what we do! These guys just keep getting back up!!!!!"

"Friend Beast Boy is correct, Raven," Starfire joined slightly out of breath, "What shall we do?"

"Keep fighting," Raven replied tonelessly, "We can't give up."

The three kept fighting as hard as they could with their waning hope as the soldiers seemed to do nothing but multiply in front of them. As an experiment, Beast Boy attempted to ram into the soldiers' chests as a large mountain goat ram, but only managed to slam himself into the wall of the dig pit…right where the crystal pendant was sitting, sparkling in the sunlight happily.

Suddenly, the fighting paused as the sound of clanging metal rent the air causing the soldiers to become incapacitated by the sound, and a bright, clear green light began to pulsate in time to the clanging in the air. Soon the light became to bright to look at with even superpowered eyes, and the three titans shielded their eyes as the world around them was overtaken by the brightness of the green.

Slowly the brightness of the light faded and the titans opened their eyes cautiously only to be surprised by what met their sight. The dark armored soldiers were no longer visible where there had been dozens so recently which was enough of a surprise in itself without what else they saw. Suspended in the air between the still glowing pendant and the wall of the pit was an unconscious figure wearing a full suit of emerald green samurai armor. As the crystal's glow slowly faded so to did the elaborate armor covering the stranger until it disappeared altogether leaving the now apparent boy in jeans and a pale blue button down shirt to crumple limply onto the ground with the pendant landing on his chest.

"Duuuuude…." Beast Boy breathed out in amazement.

Starfire stumbled forward to look at the young man. "Star, be careful," Raven instructed monotonously, "We don't know who he is or what is wrong with him."

The beautiful alien girl knelt at the side of the young man fascinated by his hair that was the color of captured rays of the sun and styled so that it covered most of the right side of his face. She gently straightened his limbs and body until he was laying on his back and worriedly looked up to Raven. "He is injured and seems to be having trouble breathing. We should take him back to the Tower to help him."

"B-but Star!" Beast Boy stuttered running up to Starfire's side, "We don't even know who he is! What if he's some dangerous super villain that is only pretending to be hurt in so he can trick us into taking him to our home and attacking us there." Both Starfire and Raven turned their eyes to Beast Boy and stared unbelievingly at this outburst. "What! I saw it in a movie this one time…"

Raven joined the other two by the side of the young man to see if she could sense any ill intent from him. As she placed a hand on his shoulder a low moan of pain escaped past his lips as his breathing became shallow and labored and his face paled even further. Raven's eyes widened as her empathic powers sent the young man's confusion and pain running through her mind briefly before his mind could reconstruct its barriers. She immediately recovered herself and summoned her powers to determine his injuries. Seeing that all of his ribs were broken clean through and threatening to puncture through his lungs to pierce his heart, she immediately used her powers to set his ribs. "Star, carry him to the medical center in the Tower quickly and lay him on one of the beds, Beast Boy and I will follow you. Just hurry as fast as you can without moving his ribs too much."

Starfire caught the urgency in her generally expressionless voice, and gently picked up the blonde stranger to cradle him in her arms carefully. She quickly took off and began frantically flying to the Tower while Beast Boy and Raven followed behind at a slower pace.

Starfire broke through the doors of Titans Tower only minutes later, rushing to the medical center and lay him down as gently as possible, but still causing moans of pain to pass from his lips that were beginning to become tinged with blue as he was having difficulties breathing due to the pain from his ribs. She managed to place an oxygen mask on the lower half of his face to help him breathe before Raven returned to heal the stranger. She was about to sit down worriedly by his side when she heard her communicator ring. Jumping she answered it, and tried to appear happy because she felt certain that it would be Robin on the other end.

"Greetings, Robin," Starfire said answering her communicator happily.

"Hey Star. Just thought that I'd let everyone know that Cy and I made it Steel City without any problems," Robin said in return almost carelessly before his eyes widened when he saw that Starfire was standing in the Medical center. "Star!" he exclaimed, "What happened? Why are you in the medical center? Are you hurt? How are Raven and Beast Boy?"

"Robin, please calm down, we are all fine," Starfire began in response to the Boy Wonder's questions. "None of our friends are injured and I am fine. There is no need for you to worry about us."

Robin's eyes narrowed in suspicion, obviously not believing that Starfire was telling him the complete truth. "Are you sure, Star?" When she did not answer his question, he shrugged trying to look careless. "Has anything happened since we left?"

"Nothing very important, Robin," Starfire answered too quickly for it to be convincing. "I will tell you all about it tonight after you return." She smiled brightly and closed her communicator before Robin could ask her anymore questions. She sighed deeply to herself as she turned to find that Raven and Beast Boy were just walking into the room walking over to the bed side of the injured blonde. "Thank goodness that you are here now. I am very worried."

Raven placed her hand on the young stranger's head and her powers glowed darkly from her hand briefly. The young man groaned in response and shifted his position, painfully groaning in response to his voluntary movement. She looked up quickly the worry she felt plain in her lavender eyes. "Help me get his shirt off. Now."

Starfire gently stumbled forward and gently unbuttoned the small buttons of his shirt, pulling it back away from his chest. All three of the Titans hissed in empathetic pain as they saw the dark blossoming bruises across his chest. With all three of their hands they managed to get the shirt off of his body with as little movement as possible but when they tried to take the green crystal pendant off of where it still lay on his injured chest, it was as if someone had used super glue to attach it where it lay.

"Dude! what is with this thing?" Beast Boy whined in frustration, "First it goes all freaky glowing when I touch it, brings this guy here, in armor, and now it's stuck!"

"Can you not heal him, Raven?" Starfire asked sadly.

"I will try, Star," Raven answered quietly, "But I won't be able to heal him all the way. At most I can reduce the breaks until they are cracks and then when he wakes we can bind his ribs so that they can finish healing." She placed her hands over the bruises on the sides of his chest, and when her dark energy went fort the bruises gradually lessened until they were like soft kisses across his pale skin. Immediately his face lost the look of pain that had been present since they first saw him, and he seemed to rest peacefully. Raven stepped back and staggered from exhaustion.

Beast Boy caught her arm to steady her and led her to her bed to rest to recover her strength. Starfire sat next to their mysterious guest and found herself hoping that Cyborg and Robin would return quickly from Steel City.

* * *

_Just outside Toyoma, Japan_

Four teens collapsed hopelessly in rickety wooden chairs around a well used matching dining table, completely silent and lost in their own thoughts. Each young man was as different from the others just as their fingerprints were completely unique. One's attention was first caught by the bright blue hair and matching eyes of the smartest of the group. His name was Rowan Hashiba, the bearer of the Armor of Strata, who was currently staring off into space with such intensity that it would have taken a catastrophe to break through his thoughts. Next to him sat the red-headed and sea-green eyes of Cye Mouri, the bearer of the Armor of Torrent. His eyes were filled with sorrow as he messed with the hem of his shirt, his mind on other matters. Next to his understated worry his best friend with ash colored hair sat simmering in barely contained silence. This was Kento Rei Faun, the bearer of the Armor of Hardrock, his anger close to boiling over. Last of all came the almost tangible self-blame of the long black-haired youth that was Ryo Sanada, the bearer of the Armor of Wildfire, leader of the small group. He once again believed that the disappearance of the fifth of their small company, Sage Date the bearer of the Armor of Halo, was his fault.

Suddenly, a pretty woman in her twenties with long auburn hair and expressive green eyes came into the room, and was surprised by her young friends' appearances. They seemed to have lost all the hope and confidence that they had gained during their fight against the demons of the Nether World. "Don't worry guys," she said softly, words not quite relieving the tension that was in the air of the room, "We'll find Sage. He's strong, he can take care of himself."

"Mia," Cye said in his tenor voice with its lilting English accent, "You don't understand, he just disappeared! We were sparing and suddenly he got this pained look on his face and his armor just started flashing before he disappeared into thin air! There were no traces left behind. We can't find him at all!"

"We can solve this Cye," Mia returned, "If his armor reacted to something, maybe the cause was something magical. I'll check on all the connected legends that I can find." She then turned and walked back out of the kitchen, leaving behind four upset teenagers in her kitchen.

* * *

A/N: There you go. What do you think? It will get better, I promise Please Review and let me know if its worth continuing writing! Thanks 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Yet again I own absolutely nothing!!!

* * *

Visitors

Chapter 2

_Titans Tower_

Robin and Cyborg walked into a very quiet, very dark common room in the Tower only to find that Beast Boy was snoring gently on the couch curled in a tight ball for warmth. Robin smiled gently to himself as he grabbed a blanket to cover the changeling. _Whatever they did today, must have really worn them out seeing as none of them are here to welcome us home…_Suddenly worried by the memory of his call to Starfire, Robin hurried to the medical center hoping that he wouldn't find either Starfire or Raven injured.

Reaching the entrance to the med center Robin paused long enough to take a deep breath to calm himself before quietly opening the door and stepping inside. He found that all the lights in the room had been turned off and the only sound he could hear was a connection with a breathing assistor. The worry once again bubbled up inside of Robin as he stepped forward, but was immediately quelled when he saw that Star was curled into a ball sleeping in a chair and that the figure lying on the mattress was too tall to be Raven. Curiosity soon replaced his worry as he approached the bed and saw a strangely familiar person lying asleep on the mattress. "Sage?" he whispered unbelievingly.

The sound of his voice caused Starfire to shift uncomfortably in her sleep. She blinked sleepily looking up at her best friend. "R-Robin?" she asked quietly, obviously confused. "When did you get back?"

Robin felt his face split into a small, warm smile for the beautiful alien girl looking at him. "Cy and I just got back, Star," he replied quietly, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. Why don't you go to your bed, it will be more comfortable for you to sleep."

Starfire sat up, her eyes wide. "But Robin, if I leave who will be here when our guest awakes?" she asked innocently obviously worried about the welfare of the injured stranger.

"I have some paperwork to go over, I'll just bring it in here," Robin offered.

Starfire's face broke into a blindingly bright smile and she threw her arms around Robin's shoulders happily. "Oh thank you Robin!" she exclaimed as quietly as she could, before floating out of the doors of the medical room.

Robin shook his head running his hand through his spiked up hair and sitting down heavily on the chair that had been so recently vacated by Starfire. _How do people that I know outside of costume keep getting mixed into my life as Robin?_ He quickly forgot about going to get his paperwork and found himself lost in memories of his friend that was now lying injured in the medical center.

* * *

_Two years earlier, benefit party in Sendai, Japan_

Dick Grayson (also known as Robin, Boy Wonder) found himself leaning against a wall in a custom made black tux with a blue (the same color as his striking blue eyes) under the coat, completely bored out of his mind. He couldn't help himself from wondering why Bruce had drug him along to Japan in the first place. Even though he was still had a pleasant smile on his face, he was watching the room to judge how much longer the torture would last. After standing there for several minutes before noticing that only a few feet away from him was someone around his age that looked as bored as he was feeling.

He had one of the most memorable appearances that Dick had ever seen amongst the thousands of people that he had seen rotate through these social events. The young man was tall and slender along with pale skin and long wavy blonde hair that was arranged to cover almost the entirety of the right side of his face. He seemed to exude light even as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed against his chest as if any interaction would be unwelcome.

Hope took hold of Dick as he subtly slid closer to the other. "You look like you're having as much fun as I'm having," he said happily in his tenor voice.

The other's response was non-verbal as he turned his head so that Dick could see his slender eyebrow raised sarcastically.

Dick's smile never wavered as he reached out his hand. "Dick Grayson," he introduced himself to the other warmly.

"Sage Date," the other answered flatly as he unfolded his arms to shake Dick's hand politely. "So is Dick just a nickname or were you tortured as a child?" he asked as he returned his arms to their former position with a small smile gracing his lips.

Dick laughed at this question as he interpreted to be a joke, his amusement reaching all the way to his eyes in a sparkle. "It's short for Richard, but I only get called that when I'm in trouble." When Sage did not move away Dick continued, "So how did you get dragged to this torture?"

"My grandfather believes that I need to socialize more, so when he received an invitation to this party I was naturally brought along," Sage answered tonelessly obviously none to pleased with his grandfather for the torture. "What about you? Why were you dragged along to this party?"

"Bruce brought me along for spring break, and got an invitation from one of his old sensei. I guess he wanted to show me off to his Japanese acquaintances," he said with a shrug. "I guess I should be used to it by now, he hosts enough of these things at home."

"Bruce?" Sage asked curiously finally showing some emotion besides indifference. "As in Bruce Wayne?"

"Yeah."

"I apologize."

Now it was Dick's turn to raise an eyebrow at his new friend, "Apologize? For what?"

"It was my grandfather that invited Mr. Wayne to this party."

Dick laughed loudly at Sage's apology. "Don't feel bad Sage. Going to long, boring parties is just part of having Bruce as my guardian."

After that the two of them were fast friends, one never leaving the other's side for the rest of the party. For the rest of his stay in Japan, Dick would go to visit Sage's family's kendo dojo where Bruce had once trained in martial arts. Many times he would train along side Sage, going so far as to meet the blonde's friends. Sadly Spring Break had ended all too soon for the two high schoolers and Dick had to return to Gotham.

* * *

Robin awoke to the light coming through the window of the med center and reflecting off the linoleum floor right into his eyes. He didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but as he stretched he could hear his joints popping in protest of the sudden movement. He glanced down at Sage, who he saw was still lying unconscious, but now with more color in his skin.

The door behind him slid open behind Robin to admit Raven. "Robin," she said quietly, "Go eat some breakfast, you need a break from sitting here by yourself."

"Someone needs to stay in here in case he wakes up."

Right at that moment, a rustling was heard from the occupied bed. Both turned their attention to the figure that was now sitting up looking around the room with a confused look on his face. "Wh-where am I?" he said quietly, his voice echoing the confusion on his face.

Robin quickly went to the bedside hiding his relief as he said, "You're in the medical center of Titans Tower in Jump City, California. Do you remember anything that happened before we found you?"

"N-no," he stuttered in return still coming to terms with waking to find himself across an entire ocean from where he last remembered. "Do you know what happened?" he asked before wincing through a wave of pain and moved his hand to the source of the pain, his chest. His fingers immediately were met by the cold green crystal of the pendant that the Titans had been unable to remove before, and it immediately came loose to fall in his hand. "What is this?" he asked quietly, suspecting that he may be holding the source of their current problems in his hands.

* * *

A/N: Ok, so I know that this one is shorter than the last one, but I wanted to post it before I study for my final tomorrow. If you read this and had any response, whether good or bad, like or dislike, you know how to leave me a review. Please, please, please review, I can't make it any better if you don't let me know how I can 


	3. Chapter 3

Visitors

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I still don't own either the Titans or the Ronins.

_Jump City, California_

Sage had retreated into the silence of the gym, finding himself with a headache after Cyborg and Beast Boy's traditional argument over tofu or bacon, which just caused the blonde warrior more confusion when Starfire stared at him the entire meal (he could almost swear that he saw floating pink hearts coming from her very green eyes). He had unknowingly upset both Beast Boy and Cyborg when he had taken some of each substance, eating in silence amongst the chaos surrounding him before quietly requesting directions to a room where he could meditate. Starfire looked disappointed as Raven led him to the gym where he requested to be left in peace before sinking comfortably into the lotus position and closed his eyes sinking deep within himself enjoying the peace and quiet that surrounded him.

He recognized the presences of the Titans as they would check on him at regular intervals, but he ignored them, trying to find the answers behind the pendant whose powers had brought him to California. At last a presence that was more familiar than the others came into the room. He recognized it as being Robin, but knew that he had met him before that morning in the medical center, the question was where.

He sat silently until he placed the aura from years previous at a party he had attended with his grandfather. Finally he spoke up, "So how long were you going to wait until you told me that it was you, Grayson?"

The familiar laugh rang through the gym as Dick stepped forward. He was dressed in gray sweatpants and a gray tee emblazoned with the words Arkham Inmate, in his hand he held his newly removed mask to reveal that it truly was Dick Grayson behind the mask of the young hero. "When did you figure it out?" he asked happily, sinking down to sit next to Sage.

"You have a very unique presence, even amongst your friends," Sage answered with a smile, opening his pale lavender-blue eyes to face his friend. "I knew that your aura felt familiar when I woke in the medical center, but I was so confused that I couldn't place it. Just now I became calm enough and you gave me enough time to think that I could place you."

"Nice," Dick complimented smiling warmly before turning serious once more and asking, "But please, the others don't know my identity so don't go broadcasting to them, alright?"

A small smirk came to Sage's pale face and he answered, "I think that I could keep your secret for you Dick. In fact it won't even be a problem."

"It's nice to see you, Sage. It's been forever." The two stood up and the dark haired blue eyed American embraced the taller blonde Japanese teenager in a brotherly embrace. He laughed easily and then asked, "Wanna spar? I bet I could wipe the floor with your face."

Sage chuckled softly in return, "You're on, Dick. The true question is how long you will last against me."

After Dick replaced his mask becoming Robin once more they took fighting stances and without any further preamble began a friendly sparing match. While the other four Titans in the Tower huddled around the door of the gym in order to watch their amazing battle.

Fifteen minutes later there was a declared tie as both were thirsty and needed water as well as Sage's ribs aching more than before. They sat and rested for a while watching some Best Boy and Cyborg compete in a racing game on the gamestation. Eventually Sage broke his silence to request the use of a telephone to contact his friends that he was sure they were worrying/blaming themselves for his sudden disappearance. Robin led him quickly to the telephone where Sage quickly dialed Mia's phone number.

"Koji Residence," Mia answered after only a couple rings.

"Hey, Mia, It's me," Sage answered smoothly.

"Sage!" Mia exclaimed before Sage heard the sound of the phone being dropped onto the floor. After a few moments of silence Mia's voice returned to the line. "Are you alright? What happened? Where are you?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. I'm in California, I don't know how or why, just that it seems to have something to do with a strange crystal pendant."

"A crystal pendant? Mia exclaimed before mumbling to herself, At least that gives me some sort of idea about what to look for…"

"Let me know if you find anything," Sage requested, "You have my e-mail, right?"

"Yes. Do you know when you'll be able to return?"

Sage was silent in thought for several seconds before answering quietly, "I don't know. Not yet though, I feel as if I will be needed here before I should return. Thank you, Mia, for everything."

With that both ends of the conversation hung up their phones to return to their previous activities.

* * *

_Mia Koji's manor, outside Toyoma, Japan A couple hours later_

Mia walked into the living room with a large stack of papers in her hands only to be greeted with the sight of Ryo, Kento, Cye, and Rowan looking at her with blank stares just recently returned from their fruitless day long search for signs of Sage Date. "Cheer up guys," she said in a chipper voice waving the papers in their direction, "I think I found out what may have happened, and Sage called while you were out—"

"WHAT!!??" came the surprised exclamation from the entire room, before they all started asking questions rapidly without a chance for any answers to be given.

Mia let them keep talking for several moments before putting up her hands getting all their attention and causing them to fall silence once more, this time with looks of hope on their faces. "Sage told me that he is in California and that he is fine. He will not be returning right now as he feels that he is needed to help there. Now, I think that I may have found what has caused this to happen," she said in a business-like manner sitting down in a vacant chair and setting her papers on the coffee table. "Sage said that it was caused by a crystal pendant, and from my research this afternoon, I have found one possible answer to our questions." She pulled a picture of five colored circular pendants from her stack of resources, "These are known as the Pendants of Anatsu. According to legend they were created during the wars with the Dynasty for the original armor bearers to allow them to use certain aspects of their armor's powers without having to don the armors themselves. It also says that when the wars were completed, the pendants were hidden in an unknown location so that if the armors fell into the hands of evil, they did not automatically gain the power granted by the pendants."

"How does this explain why Sage is in California," Kento whined from the couch, earning himself a whack to the back the head by Rowan.

"I'm guessing that when the pendants are activated, they will summon their respective armor bearers to their location," Rowan stated calmly as he reclined comfortably on the couch next to Kento.

"That's right, Rowan," Mia answered.

"What sort of powers do the pendants allow us to use, Mia?" Cye asked thoughtfully.

"I don't know, Cye. The legend is somewhat vague except about the explanation that only some of the powers are made available when you're not wearing the armors."

Suddenly a bright dark-blue light began to shine around Rowan as he looked down surprised to see that his armor was appearing to flash around him. "Shit!" Kento exclaimed as the light became brighter, almost blinding him. He tried to grab onto Rowan's arm, but before he got a solid grip the blue-haired Warrior of Strata had disappeared just like Sage before him.

* * *

_Jump City, Abandoned warehouse_

Rowan blinked his eyes groggily, moaning quietly as he painfully returned to consciousness. When he tried to brush his bright blue bangs out of his eyes he realized that his hands were bound rather tightly by some rough rope that was biting into the skin on his wrists. He struggled briefly with the bonds trying to free himself, but found himself unsuccessful as he felt his flesh tear creating an odd sensation as he bled from the shallow cuts. He ceased his struggles to observe the location that he had awoken too, and saw in the dim light, that he was in a room that appeared to be an old warehouse.

"I see that you have awoken," a voice came from the multitude of shadows around the large room and seemed to echo around Rowan even though the words were spoken softly. "Now you are free to tell me about that pendant that brought you here."

Rowan kept silent, unwilling to answer to a stranger with unknown intentions. He forced himself to remain calm and he closed his eyes in an attempt to ignore his captor. This façade was shattered when he felt a sharp pain in his side causing him to open his eyes once more with a gasp of surprise breaking from his lips. He was greeted with the sight of a tall muscular man in tight orange and black body armor along with a matching mask that only revealed the presence of a single eye. Rowan still refused to answer as the man kicked him sharply once more and said, "Stubborn are you? I guess that you just need a little time to think through your options." With that he turned on his heel and walked stiffly from the room leaving the young Warrior of Strata bound and confused on the floor of the warehouse.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay, Latin has been attempting to steal my soul (along with my free time) but after a valiant battle with verb forms and nouns I fought my way back to my keyboard and pounded out this chapter. I hope that somebody out there at least likes it…maybe if there is someone, they'll leave me a review…please someone!!! Any opinions would be greatly appreciated 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I'm just going to get this out of the way right now—I apologize for any grammar and sentence mistakes in this chapter. I am currently taking Latin, in which word order does not matter at all, and my English is suffering greatly. Let me know if you find any mistakes and I will fix them right away. Thanks

Visitors

Chapter 4

_Abandoned Warehouse, Jump City_

Rowan lay on the cold cement floor of the warehouse that he had awoken in after finding himself transported from the living room of Mia Koji's manor by the Pendant of Anatsu that was connected with the Armor of Strata. His mind was still foggy from the sudden use of magic, but he was coherent enough to look around his surroundings, looking for clues as to where he was being held captive by a complete stranger. He was interrupted suddenly when he felt a familiar presence enter his mind.

:Rowan?: Sage's voice rang through his mind softly:Is that you? Where are you?:

:Sage?: Rowan returned confused. :I thought that this was only possible when we're wearing our armors, but I'm not wearing Strata…:

:It's the Pendants, Rowan: Sage answered trying to comfort his friend that sounded as if he were almost ready to panic. :Are you alright? Do you know where you are? Any clues that you can tell me will help us find you.:

:I'm tied up in a big room of what looks like an old warehouse,: Rowan explained, still confused but when given something to focus on, he was able to control the fear to complete the task. :There are a bunch of dusty boxes laying around. A bunch of them have the logo for WayneTech, and others have Wayne Enterprises logos on their sides. Other than that I can't see anything.:

There was silence for a few moments as he could sense Sage was thinking over this new information. It was broken suddenly with another question. :Do you know anything about who is keeping you captive?:

:He just left a few moments ago. I don't know who he is. He was wearing a full suit of what looked like light weight black body armor, like Kevlar or something along those lines, and a black and orange mask that completely covered his face leaving only one eye visible.

Silence followed yet again and persisted for long enough that Rowan thought that maybe he was going to be left alone with only his thoughts yet again, but eventually Sage 'spoke' up yet again. :Alright, the criminal that has you is named Slade Wilson and he has a tendency to hide in warehouses. Robin is now looking into possible locations where you may be at this very moment. I'll get there to help you as fast as possible. Just hold on ok?:

Rowan sighed mentally:I'll be alright for now Sage. I've got Strata if things get dicey.: He paused for a moment as he heard someone approaching, his bet was probably Slade Wilson returning. :Shit! Sage I have to go, he's coming back.: He then broke off their mental connection before Sage had any chance to reply to his last comments.

Rowan looked up, glaring at the figure of Slade Wilson that was now standing in front of him calmly which only caused the super villain to chuckle evilly. "Well now my young guest, have you changed your mind about telling me what I want to know or will I have to change your mind for you?"

"Go to hell bastard," Rowan spat out bravely only to be taken aback by a hauntingly familiar laugh echoing through the wide nearly empty room. "Dais?..." Rowan whispered, confused at the presence of the Warlord of Illusion.

"Look at you Strata, just lying there helpless…No one to help you…Oh the things that I could imagine doing to a lone Ronin," Dais said as he emerged from the darkness of the shadows covered in his full body, dark pink armor that gave him the appearance of a giant spider. He seemed to float foreword to kneel beside Rowan's side and gripped Rowan's chin painfully in one of his hands. "How easy it would be to break you right now…but we have plans for you…"

Rowan suddenly felt a sharp prick in his arm and stuttered out, "Wh-What did you just do to me?"

Dais laughed at this question. "It's just a little present for you from Sekhmet. Don't worry you'll feel the effects soon enough."

Slade's face then took the place of Dais' causing Rowan to flinch back and his eyes to widen in fear as the poison began to take effect. "Now you'll regret not answering my questions sooner," Slade whispered menacingly.

The two villains backed away from the young blue-haired archer as his mind succumbed to the poison. He whimpered softly to himself as the shadows surrounding him began to swirl with the monsters that could only be found in his deepest nightmares…

----

_Titans Tower_

"BOOYAH!!" Cyborg's joyous should echoed through the tense air in the Titan's control room summoning the other titans and Sage to his side almost instantly.

"Did you find him?" Sage blurted out as soon as he reached Cyborg.

"Well not exactly…" Cyborg confessed looking a little taken aback by Sage's nervousness, reminded more than a little of Robin whenever one of their team was captured by an enemy. He pointedly refused to meet the disappointed expression now settled firmly across the blonde's features. "I cross referenced the information that you were able to give us from your friend along with the coordinates of warehouses that Slade has previously used as his headquarters, and warehouses owned by any of the Wayne Industries. I have narrowed it down to five warehouses."

"Then let's go," Robin's voice came from the back of the control center. "We'll split up and search the warehouses that you found Cyborg." He then walked forward and placed his hand comfortingly on Sage's shoulder. "Don't worry, Sage, we will find him and bring him back…"

"I'm coming with you, Robin," Sage interrupted calmly, effectively hiding his worry from his voice. "There is no way that you could stop me."

He then stepped back from the entire group and pulled a small green marble from his pocket. He held his hands out in front of his body and closed his eyes in concentration. A bright green light filled the room and when it had cleared the air, Sage stood in front of them in his silver and green sub armor. All the Titans stood staring at their guest with their mouths hanging open until he began to walk out the door of the control room. He turned back and asked, "Well are we going or not?"

Robin snapped himself out of his daze and ordered, "Alright then, Sage you're with me, everyone else, split up. If you find anything let everyone else know using the communicators."

Robin and Sage hurried to the garage of Titans Tower and mounted the R-Cycle, closely followed by Cyborg who jumped into the T-Car, and soon they were quickly on their way towards the possible warehouses. Their quick speeds sent adrenaline pumping through Sage's veins even as he tried to locate Rowan through their mental link. Along with feeling himself getting closer to his best friend, he became aware of a deep mindless fear coming from the Warrior of Strata. Sage found himself hoping that the warehouse that he and Robin was the one where Slade was hiding Rowan.

When Sage and Robin reached their target, they immediately and silently made their way inside to search the premise for any signs of Rowan. Sage felt Rowan's fear growing, and whispered to his companion, "He's here, I can feel him."

"Go get him then, I'm going to find Slade to take him down."

Sage nodded in response and quickly followed his link with Rowan to get him out of this mess. He found himself in a large shadowed room, and ran to the center to find the shaking frame of his blue haired best friend. He rushed over and put a comforting hand on Rowan's trembling shoulder. He then saw the ropes that were chaffing at the pale wrists and quickly untied the tight knots. "Rowan…Rowan, talk to me," he whispered gently.

"sage…" Rowan whispered opening his eyes, trying to see past the effects of the drug that had been put forcefully into his system. "get out of here. dais…"

"Shh," Sage returned comfortingly, "It's alright. I'll get you out of here Ro."

An evil cackling laugh echoed through the dusty, still air of the warehouse sending shivers up and down both Sage and Rowan's spines. Rowan's eyes widened yet further, pupils now covering his irises completely. He pulled himself roughly away from Sage's hands and summoned his full power with a cry, "Armor of Strata! Dao Chi!" The dark blue Armor of Strata formed around his slim body with a flash of blue light and swirling cherry blossoms, his golden longbow clutched firmly in a visibly shaking hand. He faced Sage with a scowl crossing his pale features. "Dais! You're going to regret ever keeping me captive!"

Sage's eyes widened as Rowan nocked a golden arrow to his string and aimed it right at Sage's chest. He jumped out of the way as the arrow was loosed, and then he yelled to his friend, "Rowan! Listen to me! What you're seeing is an illusion! I'm not Dais!" He then summoned his own full armor with a shout of, "Armor of Halo! Dao Rei!" Just as the light and cherry blossoms scattered in the air, a golden arrow nicked his shoulder guard. Sage kept moving in order to avoid the shining projectiles, all his attention focused on his friends and not expecting a blow to come from behind him.

He was knocked to the floor, and looked up to see that Dais was standing above him. "Why are you doing this, Dais?" Sage growled out, trying to pick himself off the ground only to be smashed back down by Dais stepping down with his full weight on the young warrior's back.

"Master Talpa wishes for the power of the Pendants. I just couldn't resist torturing both you and Strata before taking them from both of you," Dais answered with a wicked laugh before asking cruelly, "Do you happen to be afraid of the dark, Little Halo?"

Sage then became aware of a chilling darkness beginning to surround his body. Sage's eyes widened in surprise and his hands began to shake from the cold. _No, get a hold of yourself, Sage. It's just another one of Dais' illusions to distract you from the problem. _As he was trying to stop his physical response to the Warlord of Illusion's attack, Sage suddenly felt a vise-like grip on his sword arm, and was then forced to his feet as it was twisted backward and upwards. The pressure increased to a painful level even after he had risen to his fullest height causing him to groan from the feeling.

The darkness in front of him seemed to part for just a moment to allow him a view of Rowan drawing his bow back to its furthest extent and heard him begin to call his surekill attack just as the pressure in his arm reached its highest level, resulting in the sound of the bones in his wrist breaking from the strain.

Sage's voice cut through the air as he screamed in pain at this new injury causing the power of his armor to flare into light around him, parting the darkness and breaking the illusions in the room. Rowan's eyes were cleared of the sight of his enemy, now seeing Sage as the target of his attack, just as his golden arrow was leaving the string. "SAGE! NO!" he yelled, voice full of dread and guilt.

Sage's voice burst forth in another scream as the energy of Rowan's attack hit his body through his armor. The light of the attack faded around the Warrior of Halo to reveal the arrow had struck and stayed in his gut. He fell to the ground on the verge of consciousness, his full armor disappearing leaving him in his subarmor, lying prone to any further attacks.

Rowan rushed forward to his best friend's side, tears of self hate forming in his dark crystal blue eyes, and fear that Sage was dead lying heavy in his chest. "Sage!" he exclaimed softly kneeling next to his friend, gently pulling Sage's head onto his lap.

Sage opened his eyes halfway and he slowly raised his left hand to touch the side of Rowan's face. "ro…" he whispered as the blue haired archer felt a warmth spread through his entire body that took away the majority of his fear as it faded away to nothing as Sage's hand fell back to his side and his eyes closed.

"I'm so sorry, Sage," Rowan apologized to his motionless friend.

------

_Elsewhere in the warehouse_

Robin silently moved through the shadows of the warehouse noting the signs of recent activity across the otherwise dusty floor. He quickly followed the trail towards the outer portion of the warehouse. He could tell that he was getting closer to the main area of activity when his communicator went off.

He pulled himself as far into a dark corner as he could before flipping it open and answering, "Robin here."

He was greeted by the sight of Cyborg who immediately replied, "Hey Rob, we've all checked our warehouses and they've come out clean. We're on our way to your position now."

"Copy that. Hurry Cyborg." With that Robin closed his communicator and walked towards a door that had been left slightly ajar.

Cautiously moving forward once more, Robin entered the room to see signs of recent habitation that had been hastily abandoned. Caught in the middle of his contemplations, Robin suddenly heard screams cut through the otherwise still air of the warehouse. Turning on his heel he quickly retraced his footsteps and followed the path that Sage had originally taken.

-------

A/N: Hey! Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I should be able to right more during my next class since it's not Latin! Thanks for reading! Please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Visitors

Disclaimer: Still don't own them, probably never will.

Visitors

Chapter 5

Robin rushed down the dark corridor of the warehouse as quickly as his feet could carry him, a cold feeling of worry weighing heavily in his chest. He only paused briefly as he was joined by both Raven and Cyborg, both of whom followed his quick steps through the dark. The came to a closed door in a few moments and Robin carefully opened it with a pounding heart, uncertain as to what they would find. His breath caught in his throat as he saw Sage's figure in his green and silver subarmor lying unconscious on the floor with a golden arrow sticking out of his abdomen right next to a kneeling figure with distinctive blue hair along with dark blue and silver subarmor.

"Raven," Robin ordered in a soft voice, "Hurry back to the tower and prepare the Med-lab. Cyborg, get the T-car ready, we'll need to get Sage out of here quickly."

Raven obeyed without a question, and with a burst of black colored power she had disappeared. Cyborg also left without question and ran out of the room as quickly as his mechanical legs could carry him. After a moment Robin ran forward to check the damage that had been done to his Japanese friend.

"Who are you?" came the quiet question from the kneeling figure. "Are you here to help or hinder us?"

"My name is Robin, I am the leader of the group of heroes called the Teen Titans," Robin answered calmingly, placing a hand gently on the young man's shoulder. "What happened here? I just want to help."

"I…It was an illusion…I-I thought that he was an enemy….I was afraid," the young warrior stammered quietly before taking a deep breath and calming himself. "I was injected with some form of poison that caused me to be overtaken by fear and left me open to an attack by an enemy that caused me to attack Sage."

"Is the arrow his only injury?" Robin asked hurriedly.

"He also has a broken arm, that from the bend and twist in the metal of his armor, I'd say that the bone has broken through the surface of his skin," he paused for a moment as Sage shifted and moaned, sounding as if he were in the middle of a terrible nightmare. "He also used the power of Halo to absorb the poison from my body and from the sounds of it, he didn't have enough energy to disperse it, instead he took it into his own body and is now feeling the entirety of its effects."

Robin nodded in understanding at the other's assessment of Sage's injuries. He reached out with his agile fingers to touch the golden arrow, causing another moan of pain to come from the blonde's mouth. "We need to get this arrow out of him," he whispered, almost to himself.

His gloved hand was suddenly gripped by an armored hand, and he turned to look directly into the dark blue eyes of the other with his masked eyes. "I can recall the arrow out of his body, but right now it is helping his armor to prevent him from bleeding out. As soon as we get him somewhere where he can get medical help, I can get the arrow out of him and hopefully get him to take off his subarmor."

Robin nodded and stood while Starfire burst into the warehouse through one of the small dirty window, crying out when she saw the injured figure on the floor. "Sage! Robin what has happened?" She the caught sight of Rowan next to her new blonde friend and asked, "Who are you? Did you do this to Sage?" before quickly gripping Rowan's shoulders and dragging him from the ground threateningly.

Robin jumped up quickly, grabbing Starfire's second hand before she could punch the blue-haired warrior in the face. "It's alright, Star. This is who we were looking for, just put him down." He watched as the Tameranian lowered the armored warrior to the ground before turning back to the downed Sage who had lost any remaining color in his face and now his skin almost appeared gray. "Star, can you get Sage to the T-car? We need to get him and Rowan to the Tower as quickly as possible."

Star nodded silently before gently moving to the blonde's side and picking him up to cradle him gently in her arms, the movement pulling a painful moan from his pale lips. Rowan staggered along with the moan, placing a hand to his head as he closed his eyes and tried to catch his balance. Robin was immediately at Rowan's side and placed an arm around the other's shoulder to steady him. "Come on, we need to get you to the Tower too." He then began to lead the way to the entrance of the warehouse.

"I'll be alright," Rowan said softly as he was led through the hall, "It's Sage's fear leaking through our link. It just keeps getting worse. I think that Sekhmet's poison must be getting a stronger hold over his body."

Hearing this, Robin pulled Rowan even faster to the door and almost ran them to where the T-car. He helped the Japanese warrior into the front seat, instructing Cyborg to drive as quickly to the Tower as possible, before running to the R-cycle to race the others back to the Tower.

Cyborg was happy that there was no one on the streets of Jump City that day, as he pushed its speed as much as he dared in the city. His foot pressed harder on the gas pedal, as the blue haired young man in the seat next to him closed his eyes and Sage's moans became more frequent from the back. He pulled into the Tower's garage, stopping on a dime right before hitting the wall, and rushed as quickly as he could, without hurting the blonde further, to get Sage to the med-lab. Robin helped Rowan along as he had rushed into the garage just after the T-car, rushing the blue-haired young man after his friends.

Rowan and Robin reached the medcenter in record time, and upon entering the still armored Rowan raised a free hand, in which appeared the golden arrow that had injured Sage in the blink of an eye. He then closed his eyes once more to concentrate on the bond that he shared with his best friend.

:Sage!: he said, trying to break through the wall of fear that surrounded the blonde's mind from the poison. :Sage, can you hear me?:

:R-rowan?: the blonde's voice came back shakily through their connection. :What's happening? Where are you? Why is it so dark?:

Rowan heard the panic rising in his friend's voice and tried to calm him down while getting the blonde to take off his armor. :Sage, you're back at the Titan's Tower, but you're injured and under the influence of one of Sekhmet's poisons. The people that you were with, they're trying to help you, but they can't treat your injuries unless you take off your subarmor.:

Rowan opened his dark blue eyes once more to see the small flash as Sage released his subarmor, and followed the blonde's example. Afterwards he tried to take a step forward in order to help further, but the adrenaline left his body and the room went black as his exhaustion caught up with him.

Robin felt Rowan fall limp in his arms as the blue clad warrior's armor disappeared. He half carried, half drug him over to an empty bed on the other side of the large sterile room, and quickly checked him over for any possible injuries before returning to where Cyborg and Raven were checking over the injured blonde.

"Is he going to be alright?" he asked quietly of the dark empath.

"We've managed to stop the bleeding of the wound from the arrow, but we haven't been able to sew him up or set his bone as he is struggling too much against whatever he is seeing in his mind," Raven explained quietly, not pausing in her task.

"Can you connect with his mind?" Robin asked slowly, "He's an empath also, wouldn't that help you to succeed? Maybe you could convince his mind to stop the nightmares while I take a sample of his blood to work out an antidote."

"I can try Robin, but it works best when I already have a connection with the other. I don't know how this will turn out, I've never tried to enter another empath's mind before now."

Robin nodded his understanding before backing away to let the two do their work, snatching a used gauze pad in order to analyze the poison that was ravaging his friend's psyche, and heading to the lab to begin work. Cyborg continued to apply pressure to the open wound in Sage's stomach while Raven quickly prepared herself for an expedition into the blonde's mind. Once she had centered her emotions, she nodded her intentions to Cyborg, and with a soft chant of, "Azarath, Metrion, Zynthos," she sent her soulself into Sage's wavering consciousness.

She opened her 'eyes' only to see a shining wall of green energy spreading out in front of her. As she searched for even a single point of weakness in the bright light, a darker shape began to take shape right in front of her. After several blinks of her eyes, the shape became clear. It was Sage. He was hanging limply from a metal frame that was shaped like a six-sided star by a mass of wires that appeared to have been soldered straight to his green and silver subarmor, and attached to his head appeared to be various medical devices. "Sage," she said, trying to get through to him, hoping that if she got him to respond, she may be let into his mind to help him.

His entire body flinched as if an electrical shock had ripped through his muscles before he slitted his eyes open with a groan. "R-Raven?"

"Yes, Sage, it's me," she stepped closer, seeing another wave of electricity rip through his body, causing her to stop. "Do you know what is happening?"

"I…I've lost control…" the blonde managed to stammer out quietly before his voice dropped even more and added barely above a whisper, "People are dead because of me…It's all my fault."

Before Raven could say anything in response, the figure before her faded once more into the bright green of his mental barriers, and she was once more left searching for a weakness in the shield. She was startled with a noise of clanking metal from her right, and when she turned she was greeted by the sight of Sage's full armor approaching her from the light. :Child of Darkness, what is the reason for your presence?: her mind was filled with a voice that sounded like it was made out of pure light.

"I am here to try to help him. He has been poisoned by a venom that is making him live through his worst fears, and he's struggling against all the aid that we are trying to give him physically," she explained to the metal armor, feeling rather awkward at the notion.

The armor seemed to nod in recognition before continuing, :He will not allow you to enter into his mind, especially when he is in the state that he is in because of this venom.:

"I'm afraid that we're running out of options. If we can't get him to lay still, we won't be able to treat his wounds, and he will die," she stated bluntly.

:I will do what I can to aid both you and Sage, Child of Darkness, but anything I do will only be temporarily. He will need more aid than I am able to give him. I give him the power to heal others, but unfortunately, that power does not extend to healing himself. You should have enough time to give him as much aid as is possible.:

Raven watched as the suit of armor turned and disappeared once more into the green barrier. Once she was alone again, she concentrated briefly and recalled her soulself to her body. She opened her eyes to see that the blonde now was lying still on the medical bed, allowing himself to be stitched up by Cyborg. She immediately went to work setting Sage's arm and stitching up the wound from where the bone broke the surface of his skin.

Several long moments passed before they had stitched up the blonde as much as possible, along with casting his wrist, and hooking him up to both a heart monitor and IV. Then they were left to monitor him until the antidote was concocted, worry rising when he once again began to shift restlessly in the bed accompanied by moans and muttering while remaining unconscious. Finally Robin returned with the antidote, and without a pause administered it, instantly calming the Warrior of Halo. They all then left him to rest until he would awaken to consciousness once more.

--

Dark blue eyes blinked open wearily to take in unfamiliar surroundings, and confusion overtook his mind as he shot into a sitting position. He glanced around the room to see white walls and medical equipment not remembering why he wasn't in his room at the Koji mansion until his gaze fell upon the pale figure of Sage laying on one of the other beds when he remembered everything that had happened after awakening in the warehouse. Rowan immediately sprinted over to Sage's bedside and took the injured swordsman's left hand gently in his own and whispered, "Oh Sage, I'm so sorry…"

"I see that you're awake," a monotone voice quietly rang through the silent room, causing Rowan to jump in surprise, turning to face the unknown person. He saw the short girl that wore a long dark blue cloak with the hood pulled low over her face to hide her features and had disappeared in a black aura at the one who had introduced himself as Robin's command. She must have noticed his uncertainty and stepped forward saying, "My name is Raven. How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine," he said softly, turning his eyes back to the unconscious blonde figure lying on the bed in front of him, falling silent.

"You feel responsible," Raven stated flatly, stepping forward. When Rowan looked up sharply at the truth of her statement, she smirked slightly before explaining, "Robin has the same posture when he is blaming himself for something that he had no control over."

Rowan was grateful to see that with that statement Raven turned and retreated from the medcenter, leaving him alone with an unconscious best friend and guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders. After that he just sat in the chair silently staring into space buried so deep within his own thoughts that he didn't notice the Titans coming in to check on their two guests, nor the fading light surrounding him, keeping his silent vigil over his best friend.

--

_Titans East Tower, Steel City_

It was a normal day for the members of Titans East. They were returning to their tower after chasing down a group of bank robbers. Mas and Menos had of course run ahead of the rest of the group, possibly to return to the Tower or maybe to visit some random location around the world like Guatemala or Spain. The rest followed at their own paces, making stops at various locals around Steel City. Once they had returned to the tower they all went back to their normal daily activities. Bee and Speedy retreated to the training room to sharpen their skills, and Aqualad went down to the pools that had been installed for his use.

As soon as he slipped into the temperate waters, he felt that something was off in the pool. His sharp eyes immediately caught sight of the offending object as bright filtered light glinted sharply off of a highly polished surface. Finding this to be strange as he had just been in the pool that morning, and whatever it was that was catching the light had not been present then. He curiously swam down to get a better look at the mysterious item on the floor of the pool, and saw that it was an amulet that matched the color of the pool water almost perfectly. He carefully fingered the edge of the amulet to try to discover what it was made out of, but was surprised when the amulet began to glow, softly at first but growing steadily brighter until it forced him to close his eyes or be blinded.

When the light had once again faded into nothing, Aqualad reopened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of a boy that appeared to be his age with long rust colored hair floating peacefully in the water before him dressed in a strange suit of light blue and silver that appeared to be made out of metal. Worry overtook the Atlantean as he saw that the strange young man in the armor was unconscious and not even struggling to escape the hold of the water. Aqualad immediately grabbed the stranger around his shoulders and pulled him to the surface of the pool of water.

As soon as both their heads broke the surface of the water, the unconscious stranger immediately began breathing. Confused, the Atlantean pulled the other young man to the side of the pool, and pulled the both of them over the side of the pool before using his communicator to call Bee. "Um, Bee, I have a visitor down at the pools with me," he said quickly into his communicator.

"What are you talking about, Aqualad?" Bee asked, voice sounding confused at what she had just been told. "There isn't any opening down by the pools that people can use to get into the Tower."

"Bee, trust me, I know that, but that doesn't change the fact that there is a stranger that I pulled from the water lying unconscious beside the pools. Just meet me in the Medbay, alright?" With that he closed his communicator, and turned back to the stranger, who returned his look with a slight moan and raising a hand to cover his eyes, just like someone who is suffering from an intense headache. Aqualad quickly knelt by the stranger's side and asked softly, "Are you alright?"

The stranger uncovered his sea green eyes, and looked at him in obvious confusion. After a moment he answered quietly with his tenor voice and slightly British accent, "I believe that I'm alright, except for having a bloody headache. Where am I?"

"You're in Steel City, at Titans Tower," Aqualad answered, helping the other young man into a sitting position. "Can you stand? I'd like to make sure that you are alright, would you be willing to come with me to the Medical Center so that we can check you over?"

"You're with the Titans?" The stranger immediately straightened, his expressive sea-green eyes beginning to shine in what Aqualad guessed was happiness. "Have you seen Sage and Rowan? Are they alright? Can I see them?"

"Slow down!" Aqualad put a comforting hand on the stranger's shoulder. "Let's get you to the Medical Center first, and then ask me those questions again, alright?"

Aqualad helped the brunette stranger to his feet, and he quickly led him down the halls to the Medical Center. "Hey ya stranger! Whaddaya doin' here?" was the greeting that the two received from Bee as soon as they entered the room through the sliding metal doors. Aqualad felt the young man at his side jump in surprise at Bumble Bee's energetic greeting, and saw that he remained tense even as he allowed himself to be led to one of the beds and sat upon it. There was then a flash of bright light, and then the two Titans were surprised to see that their guest was sitting dressed no longer in the metal armor, but in jeans and a teal polo emblazoned with a small sail boat.

He gave the two superheroes an uncomfortable smile and began to tell his story. "My name is Cye Mouri. I received this set of mystical armor when I was 14, and after that my friends and I saved the world from an invasion from what I guess you would call an alternate dimension by the name of the Nether Realm." He then paused to gather his thoughts, and stop from the rambling version of his story. After a couple deep breaths, Cye began to talk once more, "A few days ago, one of my friends disappeared. We looked everywhere to find out where he went, only to get a phone call saying that he had somehow ended up with the Titans in America." He then held out his hand with the amulet that had caught Aqualad's eye in the pools and continued, "After some research we found out that these amulets are the cause of the disappearance, and then another of my friends disappeared. Next thing I know here I am waking up with the biggest headache of my entire life, but even that's going away. Now I just want to know where my friends are and find out what evil we're supposed to defeat so that I can go back home to enjoy the rest of my summer."

"You said that your friends are with the Titans?" Speedy's voice came from the doorway, causing Cye to jump in surprise once more. The archer stepped through the doorway and said, "I bet he's in Jump with Robin and the others. I'll give Bird Boy a call and see what I can find out." He then turned on his heel and left the room once more, pulling out his cell phone.

A/N: Hey all! I now have the internet again, so more regular updates can be expected. Did anybody like it? Have any suggestions to make it better? Have any opinion at all? Leave me a review so I can improve the story:)


	6. Chapter 6

I swear, I don't own anything.

Visitors

Chapter 6

_Jump City, Titans Tower, MedBay_

Rowan was awoken in the MedBay once more, this time by a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Morning Rowan," came Robin's voice softly from behind him. He sat up in his chair once more, and turned to see Robin's masked features illuminated by the light of the newly risen sun. "How're you feeling?"

Rowan took a deep breath and let it out before answering with his own question, "How's Sage doing?"

Robin sighed deeply before answering, "He's stable, but he hasn't woken yet." The young hero then gazed at the blue-haired archer seriously before saying quietly, "You must be hungry since you haven't eaten at all after being transported here by that amulet. Do you want some breakfast?" Rowan maintained his silence instead of answering, and after a moment Robin tried once more, "Come on Rowan, Sage wouldn't want you to get sick because you didn't take care of yourself. I'll just show you to the common room so that you can have some food with the others, and I'll stay with Sage until you finish eating."

Rowan gazed at Robin skeptically as if weighing his chances of winning an argument with the Teen Wonder. Finally he nodded and softly added, "Alright," before rising from the chair and stretched, working the kinks out of his joints. "Which way? I'm pretty sure that I can find my way down to the common room myself." He then walked out the door without waiting for an answer.

Robin smirked to himself as he walked to the door and called out, "Just get in the elevator and push the 'C' button." He saw Rowan wave back at him in recognition before turning back into the MedBay and taking over the chair that Rowan vacated. He ran a gloved hand through his spiked hair, he then grabbed Sage's uninjured hand and whispered, "Come on Sage, wake up for me, I need to know that you're alright. We're all worried about you." He squeezed Sage's hand gently and fell silent for a moment before beginning to talk again, not wanting Sage to feel as if he were being left alone. "I hope that you aren't waking up is that you are asleep and that you haven't fallen into a coma. But they say that when someone is unconscious they can still hear the voices of people talking to them, so here I am trying to make you feel that you aren't alone. The only problem that I have is that I have no idea what to tell you about though. Now I just have to figure out what it is that you may want to know about."

He jumped slightly as he heard his communicator alert him to an incoming call. He grabbed it from his belt, and flipped it open to see the masked features of Speedy on the other end. "Good morning, Speedy. What can I do for you today?"

He saw the young archer raise an eyebrow before he asked, "Are you sitting in the MedBay, Bird Boy? Are you injured or just finding a new obsession having to do with counting medicine doses?"

Robin chuckled softly, "None of the above, Bow Head. I'm just watching over a friend. What's up?"

"Well last night we had a visitor appear in the Tower that claims two of his friends are with the Titans, but neither of them are here, so I thought that maybe you had them with you in Jump."

"Yeah, sounds familiar. We do have two visitors with us right now. What is your visitor's name?"

"Cye Mouri. Could he be connected to your visitors?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's part of their team."

"I'll bring him over then, no worries. Are you sure that you're alright Rob? Anything you want me to bring along?"

"Anything you want Bow Head. I'll see you in a few hours then."

"Don't earn your seat in the MedBay, at least until I get there Rob." With that the other end of the communication went black as Speedy closed his communicator. Robin returned the yellow communicator to his belt and leaned back in his chair interlacing his fingers, anxiety and stress overcoming his thoughts. He was startled when he heard a soft moan come by the bed that he was sitting next to. He dredged his awareness out of the dark corners of his mind to sit up and see the blonde's pale blonde eyes blink wearily open after being closed for hours on end. Keeping his voice soft in case his friend had a headache he said, "Welcome back to the land of the living, Sage. How are you feeling?"

Robin watched as Sage's eyes as they closed again before he croaked, "Terrible." His eyes opened again, and slowly focused on his surroundings. "Where am I? Is this the Tower?...What happened to Rowan, is he ok?"

The dark youth chuckled softly to himself, nodding. "Yes to all questions, Sage. Rowan's fine, I just managed to convince him to get some breakfast a little bit ago, he's been sitting over you guiltily since we got you back here last night."

Sage closed his eyes once more before whispering, "This wasn't his fault."

"My mind says that it wasn't my fault, it was Dais's," Rowan's voice echoed from the doorway. He smiled grimly as his best friend opened his eyes once more in surprise and walked over to the bedside. "But my heart keeps telling me that if I had just been a little bit stronger, I could have resisted the illusion and none of this would have happened…I guess that now I can understand what your guilt after Shinkaisen since that wasn't your fault either."

Robin raised an eyebrow in confusion at Rowan's reference, but shrugged it off as a question to ask at a later date in favor of giving the two Japanese warriors a little good news. "I've got some good news. A friend of mine just called and let me know that one of your friends has turned up in Steel City. They're on their way right now, and should get here in a couple hours or so. For now, just try to get some rest Sage." He then stood and walked from the room to give the other two some time alone.

--

_Throne Room, The Dynasty_

The large traditional Japanese style room was shrouded in darkness, the only light coming from floating candles lit with pale blue flickering flames. Out of the shadows stepped a blue haired young man wearing fully red sub armor with a large vertical scar running down the left side of his face. He bowed formally with a fist upon his heart when a transparent head covered with a demonic helmet and ghostly pale blue hair appeared in the darkness directly in front of him. "Master Talpa," he intoned before looking up once more.

"Cale," the floating head returned with a booming voice. "What have you discovered about the Amulets?"

"Master, we have had only a limited success in finding more information dealing with the Amulets, but all evidence that we have found shows that while they have the ability to increase the armor bearer's power exponentially, it is impossible to wield their powers if you do not possess the armor orb. Also, Torrent has joined both Halo and Strata in being summoned by their amulets; however none of the three have bonded with them."

"Move forward with our plans to capture the Ronins. When I have their powers it will bring me one step closer to ruling the world."

With that command, Talpa once more faded from view, followed directly by Cale, leaving the room to fade into darkness as the ghostly candles winked out.

_--_

_Jump City_

Shortly after noon on that same day the doorbell at Titan's Tower rang, and three visitors were admitted into the tower. Aqualad and Speedy were both greeted warmly by the other Titans, and their young guest, Cye Mouri was introduced to the Titans west before being led to the Med Bay by Robin, who explained Sage's injuries during the short elevator ride.

When the two entered the Med Bay they saw Rowan attempting to wake Sage, who was lying in the grip of a nightmare, causing him to not only cry out in his sleep but also to shift about restlessly. Cye immediately ran to his friend's side to help calm the blonde with Robin following directly behind, calling Raven for assistance with his communicator. Rowan looked up when he heard Cye talking to Sage in an attempt to either wake or calm him with very limited success, as Sage ceased moving but tears began to slide out from under his eyelids and his cries became louder. Gratitude was visible in Rowan's dark crystal blue eyes and Cye's sea-blue eyes as Robin also tried to calm the injured blonde by speaking to him not only in English, but quickly switching to Japanese, telling what seemed to the two to be nonsensical stories. In the middle of one of the stories, Rowan made the connection between the Warrior of Halo and the Boy Wonder, not to mention himself, as he was in the story Robin was telling.

Rowan looked up quizzically and stated, "I know you…You were at the Date Dojo a couple years ago at the same time I was there." Robin smiled sadly, not breaking his story, and moving forward to touch Sage's shoulder. The blonde immediately flinched at the touch with a groan before blinking rapidly with fear plain in his pale violet eyes. His eyes darted around to the faces of his friends, surprise lighting their depths at the sight of Cye, before searching his surroundings. As soon as he noticed that he was still in the Medical Bay of Titans Tower, he seemed to relax once more, the pain and fear of his dream pushed aside for the moment.

"Hey guys," he said softly, a small smile forming on his lips. "When did you get here, Cye?"

"A few minutes ago, mate," Cye replied with a bright smile, keeping his voice low in case the blonde had a headache to go along with his other injuries. "Just in time to see you have a nightmare. How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a train, but it's improved since this morning."

The four teenagers heard the door slide open to admit Raven. As she slipped into the room silently, they saw that she was being shadowed by Speedy who immediately greeted, "Hey! How's it going in the Med Bay?"

The three Japanese warriors looked at him questioningly while Robin sighed. "What are you doing, Bowhead? I thought that you'd be hanging downstairs."

"I heard that one of your guests is an archer so I thought I'd see if he wanted a go at the training course," Speedy smiled charmingly walking forward.

Both Cye and Sage looked over to Rowan who just raised his eyebrow. "Go ahead Ro, you've spent enough time sitting around with me you deserve a break," Sage said encouragingly with a smile.

"Yeah Ro, go show Speedy what you've got," Cye echoed, "I'll stay here with blondie for a while."

Sage glared slightly at the nickname causing the blue-haired archer to chuckle as he left the room with Speedy. "Yeah, you look about as threatening as a kitten there Sage," Raven deadpanned, "Now, why did you call me up here, Robin?"

"Sage was having a nightmare, and last time you were the one to calm him down. Can you check to make sure that the venom is out of his system?"

Sage sighed, "You know that I can hear you right? You don't have to waste your time checking me over, Sekhmet's venom is gone. It just brought up some terrible memories."

"Shinkaisen?" Cye asked quietly. Sage's only answer was to close his eyes silently. "Would talking about it help?"

"We'll leave you two alone, " Robin said courteously before leading Raven out of the room.

--

_Nightfall, Abandoned Rock Quarry outskirts of Jump City_

The still evening air was disturbed as the giant form of Cinderblock who had recently broke out of his imprisonment and now going into hiding. As he walked slowly across the quarry his eye was caught by a shining object in the rock wall. He raised his hand to try to pick up whatever it was, but was surprised when the light only seemed to grow brighter until it hurt his eyes. He was surprised when the light disappeared to reveal a husky teenaged boy with ash colored hair wearing a silver and orange suit of armor lying on the ground. He bent down and picked up the stranger and carried him off to his lair in a cave in the rock of the quarry.

--

A/N: There you go an update at last Did anyone like it? Let me know! Remember, reviews motivate me to write, so if you want faster updates, click the button and just leave me a short review. Thanks


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey all:) Just want to give a quick shout out to Raven of Alaska, thanks for not only being my only reviewer, but for reviewing twice, it makes me feel good

A/N: Hey all:) Just want to give a quick shout out to Raven of Alaska, thanks for not only being my only reviewer, but for reviewing twice, it makes me feel good! Any way on to the story…

Visitors

Chapter 7

"TITANS GO!!" Robin's cry broke the still morning air as the Titans (including Speedy and Aqualad) along with Cye wearing the Torrent subarmor pursued Cinderblock into the abandoned quarry just outside Jump. The alarm had sounded about 8:00 that morning to let them know Cinderblock had broken into the Jump City Gold Depository and they had only caught up with him on the outskirts of town. Once he reached the middle of the quarry, he turned and rushed at Robin. He was greeted by a beam of shining blue light from Cyborg's sonic cannon along with some bright green Starbolts from Starfire. Beast Boy then rammed into the rock giant as a rhinoceros, knocking him into a wave of water from Aqualad which was followed by a freeze disk from Robin and a freeze arrow from Speedy's bow. The result of this attack was Cinderblock being frozen into a block of ice.

"Dude!" a boisterous voice came from across the quarry. "That was awesome!"

Cye's face split into a bright smile as he ran to where the voice came from to tackle the other while shouting, "Kento!"

The two collapsed to the ground laughing while the Titans approached. The two Ronins pulled themselves to their feet. "Kento, meet the Teen Titans," Cye introduced. "This is Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, Speedy, and Aqualad. Titans this is Kento Rei Faun, the bearer of the Armor of Hardrock."

Kento smiled broadly at all the Titans and waved warmly. "Hey all! Do you have any food?"

"Dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "I so agree."

"Waffles and bacon for everybody at the Tower, let's go!" Cyborg exclaimed before leadingthe way to the T-Car, followed close behind by Kento and then Speedy, Aqualad, and Cye, while Robin headed towards the R Cycle and Starfire, and Raven took to the skies with Beast Boy who had taken the form of a hawk. None of them met with any trouble on their way back, and so they reached the Tower fairly quickly. Raven immediately transported herself to the Med Bay to let Rowan know they were going to have breakfast, and to check on Sage's vitals and dream state, but was surprised to find the entire room empty. She contained any panic she felt and teleported down to the garage.

"Robin," she said quietly, "we may have a problem."

"What's wrong Raven?" Robin asked worriedly, knowing that Raven was not one to joke, especially about something potentially serious.

"I was just in the Med Bay and neither Rowan nor Sage were where we left them."

"Not yet, I thought you may like to know before I search the entire Tower."

Cye had overheard Raven's comments and said, "I can find them if you like."

"Really?" Robin asked, interested.

"If they are still in the Tower, they're close enough for me to follow our link to them, or just ask them where they are." He closed his eyes for a moment before saying, "It's alright, they're in the main room."

"Alright! Time for chow!" Kento exclaimed coming over and clapping a hand onto Cye's shoulder.

Cyborg laughed at this sentiment. "Follow me my man, and I will feed you 'til you explode!"

Cye grinned cheekily at the hero and laughed out, "I hope he doesn't hold you to that promise. Kento here can eat his wight at every meal, and still not be full."

Kento took a moment to look offended by this comment, but quickly broke into a toothy grin joking, "Yeah, yeah you're right."

This interaction between obviously good friends caused all the Titans to laugh as they squeezed into the elevator to travel up to the common room of the Tower. As they stepped out of the elevator they were greeted with the sight of Sage reclining on the floor propped up by pillows in the sunlight coming in through the window, looking out at the bustling people in Jump City while Rowan was flipping through the channels on the television. Rowan looked up when the doors opened and greeted, "Hey guys! How did it—Kento?"

"Hey Ro!" Kento returned. "Guess what? It's time for breakfast!"

Rowan grinned at his friend's exuberance at the thought of food, and laughed, "You and your stomach Kento."

The stocky Warrior of Hardrock returned the laugh and playfully punched Rowan on the shoulder. "Everybody's a critic." He then looked over to Sage, who had yet to move. "How 'bout you, Sage? Are you ready for some breakfast?"

"You can have mine, Kento, I'm not hungry," Sage returned, voice tired and hollow.

Kento's eyebrows rose at this comment, but he had learned not to challenge the blonde, especially when there was something obviously wrong. He looked at Cye who immediately answered, "He and Rowan had a run in with Dais and Sekhmet's newest venom."

Kento winced at the mention of the two warlords as Cyborg emerged with a plate stacked high with waffles yelling, "Who wants waffles?"

For several minutes there was a feeding frenzy while they attacked the food in Cyborg's hand. After eating one, Cye snuck past the young hero into the kitchen to make more waffles, but almost fell over in shock at the state of the kitchen, so he began to clean the mess off the counters and moved the questionable pans into the sink. Unfortunately the waffle pan fell into the questionable category, so instead of making more waffles, he began to make pancakes. After he had made a good stack, he separated a couple and got a glass of orange juice, before taking the plate of pancakes out to where the others were mourning the end of the waffles. As soon as Kento smelt Cye's pancakes immediately perked up and ran to his friend's side. "Now Kento, you have to share with everyone." The warrior of water placed the plate of pancakes on the table and stepped back before the plate was attacked, mainly by Cyborg, Kento and Beast Boy. He then returned to the kitchen and grabbed the plate that he had left in the kitchen and walked back out to take the food to Sage.

He walked over to the window and was worried when Sage did not react to his approach in the slightest. "I brought some breakfast for you," Cye said carefully, worry growing when Sage did not answer his spoken statement. He then tried through their link only to be blocked from his friend's awareness in all ways. Raven must have picked up on his worry and came over just as the red-head waved a hand in front of Sage's eyes.

"What's wrong, Cye?"

"He's in some sort of trance or something. I can't get him to respond, no matter what I do."

A sigh passed Raven's lips as a flash of green light came from Sage's forehead, followed quickly by dimmer flashes from the other Ronins in colors corresponding to those of their armors. The Titans were startled into silence as all three Ronin's eyes went to the Warrior of Light, whose eyes were now closed and his body completely limp as the green amulet that had transported him to Jump City floated from his pocket. As it floated higher, it seemed to force his eyes open once more only to reveal that instead of their normal pale violet, they were now glowing the same green as the amulet as it began to pulse its green light. His eyes however remained blank and unaware of anything surrounding him as his body was encased in the same light and his entire body began to lift off the ground.

Everyone moved closer as the light increased and began to focus on the blonde's injuries. As suddenly as the light began, it disappeared leaving the blonde to unceremoniously drop to the floor, his consciousness once more fleeing from him.

The three Ronins immediately rushed to their comrade's side, carefully lying him straight while trying no to jostle his injuries more than necessary. By then Raven had summoned her power to check him for any new injuries. She gasped in surprise recalling her powers, not believing what had been revealed. Her hands reached for his shirt and raised it, carefully removing the slightly stained bandage to reveal that his skin had knitted back together leaving a scar that had the appearance of a scar that had been long healed. There were sounds of amazement from the Titans who had seen his injuries in the warehouse.

"Is he completely healed?" Rowan whispered.

"His arm is still broken, but all soft tissue damage has been healed," Raven deadpanned in return. "Let's get him back to the Med Bay so that he can rest."

Cyborg moved to pick up Sage, but was beaten by Kento, who did not hesitate to stand and pick up his friend. The other two Ronins along with Robin led him to the Med Bay so that he could rest.

--

_Jump City Docks_

Even though it was only midday in the warm coastal city, an eerie fog had begun to creep off the salt water of the ocean and was now curling around the warehouses of the dock district. The whole area began to take on the feel of a horror movie as the sun was beginning to be blocked out by the fog, and shadows began to flit through the clouds, worrying any that were out walking. The whole atmosphere began to feel electric, and people began to debate whether or not they could see large oriental style gates through the ever thickening fog.

It was into this setting that Ryo the Bearer of the Armor Wildfire, was brought into Jump City by an oblivious pedestrian who accidentally kicked the amulet connected with Wildfire into the only fire ring in the Jump City Park. With all the strange weather, no one noticed the appearance of an unconscious young man in the ashes of a burned out fire, nor did they notice when he awoke and began to wander about aimlessly among the trees of the park while looking worriedly at the sky which was now covered by sickly green clouds.

--

_The Dynasty_

Inside the tall walls of a sprawling Japanese castle thousands of soldiers wearing dull green colored armor gathered in well organized ranks and columns. From a balcony the three warlords Dais, Kale, and Sekhmet overlooked the status of their army, pleased at what they saw. "This time the Ronins will not be able to resist our powers," Sekhmet said while he grinned evilly to his two comrades from beneath the snake-like appearance of his armor.

"Dais," Kale said, smirking beneath his wolf armor, "This Slade you told us of, he is willing to offer his troops for our use also?"

Dais turned, his white hair blowing in the almost non-existent breeze as he had taken off his helmet revealing not only a wild mane of hair but also the absence of his right eye. "He has offered to aid us in our fight with his robot pawns as it seems the Ronins have allied themselves with his nemesis. How loyal he will remain once we have defeated his enemies however, I do not know."

A horn sounded from inside the castle, calling the three to meet with Talpa to once more go through their orders before their assault on the world.

--

A/N: There you go, another installation of Visitors, sorry it's a little shorter than the others, but it seemed like a good place to leave off to me. Is anybody out there still reading this story?? Please let me know by dropping me a review. Short or long, praise or flame, it doesn't matter to me, just drop me a line.


	8. Chapter 8

Visitors

Visitors

Chapter 8

--

A blur of red and yellow flashed through Titan Tower followed by a strong breeze later that same afternoon. After a quick search of the rooms of the Tower, Kid Flash appeared in the Med Bay seemingly out of thin air. "Hey ya, Bird Boy!" he greeted Robin happily with a broad smile gracing his masked features. "Were you the one who placed a rush order on the STAR Labs special?" He pulled out a metal splint from behind his back and tossed it to Robin who caught it effortlessly.

"Right on the money," Robin replied with a small smile, "Thanks KF."

"Soooo…." Kid Flash said curiously as Robin turned to the figure on the bed to put the newly delivered splint on his injured arm. "Who's this? Is he a new Titan? Are his friends the ones that I don't recognize downstairs? Do they have something to do with the freaky weather?"

Robin's answer was interrupted by a soft chuckle from the blonde on the bed, who opened his eyes to reveal that they had returned to their normal pale lavender color. "Do you want those answered in the order you asked them?" he asked quietly.

Kid Flash jumped when he was addressed by the young man that he thought was unconscious, but in a 'flash' (A/N: Sorry I couldn't help it) was at the bedside, to talk to him directly. "You're awake! Are you alright?"

Sage smirked as he looked at the newcomer and answered, "Much better than yesterday, thank you. Pardon me for not answering your questions right away, but what do you mean by 'freaky weather'?"

"Dude! Haven't you been outside at all today?!" Kid Flash burst out in excitement. "The clouds all over town are this weird green color that I've never seen before! You should go see them; I've never seen anything like it before."

"Has there been any odd colored lightning?" Sage asked, immediately going to sit up before being pushed back down by Robin who was still placing the blonde's arm in the splint.

"I haven't seen any," the young speedster replied.

As soon as Robin had finished snapping the full metal splint into place on Sage's arm, the blonde warrior was up and running towards the common room of Titan's Tower. "We have to find Ryo now, the Dynasty is here," he stated to his friends as soon as he burst through the metallic sliding door.

"What are you talking about Sage?" Rowan recovered first, used to his best friend's stress filled personality, as both Cye and Kento sputtered around for a moment and the other Titans just stared with blank, confused faces.

"Ryo's here somewhere. We have to find him so that we can fight the Dynasty at our strongest," Sage explained after taking a couple deep breaths.

"Tell me what your friend looks like, and I'll find him. I can search the city faster than anyone else could hope to," Kid Flash said as he appeared suddenly, leaning against the back of the couch leisurely.

"He is about an inch taller than I, with tanned skin and black hair that has grown to be just past his shoulders," Cye explained to the speedster, "You would probably have the most luck looking in places connected with fire."

"Gotcha," Kid Flash's answer came as his figure blurred and he disappeared.

Rowan looked at his blonde friend with his eyes full of worry. "Sage, why don't you sit down and rest for a while? You did just wake from being unconscious for an entire day."

Just then Robin walked through the door, relief lighting his face when he saw Sage standing in the middle of the room. "Oh good, here you are," Robin said while lowering himself onto a chair gracefully. "Now what's up with your sudden interest in the weather Sage?"

"Strange weather is a sign that the Dynasty is up to something, especially if they are present in the area," Rowan answered immediately. Then as if he made the connection between the swordsman's thoughts and the Boy Wonder's question, his eyes widened and his head snapped to catch Sage's eyes. "You mean that the Dynasty is at it again?"

Sage's only answer was to close his eyes and nod his head slowly while he sunk onto the couch cushions to sit next to his blue haired best friend. "No worries, man," Speedy coolly remarked as he began to lounge by the blonde warrior, "Twinkletoes will find your friend in no time, and then we'll be able to kick the bad guys' asses before we send you guys back to Japan."

Just then a blur of red returned to the room, and faded to reveal that Kid Flash had returned, dragging a green looking Ryo along behind him. As all forward motion stopped, Ryo fell to his knees clutching his stomach. Sage was immediately at his side, hands glowing green with Halo's power, and landed on his butt as soon as Ryo was looking better. Both archers were immediately at the blonde swordsman's side, helping him back onto the couch.

"Sage, you should take it slow for a bit. You just woke up from being unconscious for a day after being pretty seriously injured," Rowan said sternly.

The blonde only nodded as he closed his eyes as he leaned back into the cushions of the couch.

Ryo looked around at the others, known and unknown, curiously before asking, "What's going on? What happened to Sage? How did he heal me without calling on Halo?"

The heroes waited until the injured swordsman's breathing evened out signaling his slip into sleep before explaining the events of the last few days to the newly arrived Warrior of Wildfire. As they were finishing talking, the klaxon blare of the alarm ripped through the still air of the Tower, once more awakening the recovering warrior, and causing Robin to run to the computer monitor to see the cause of the alarm.

A look of confusion crossed Robin's masked features as he read the information crossing the computer screen. Questions began to be thrown in his direction and he answered with uncertain-ness clear in his tone. "There are reports coming in of Slade-bots attacking at random points throughout the city of soldiers wearing green armor in a very oriental style of make. They seem to just be attacking anyone they may come across without any regard to who or where they are."

"The Dynasty," all five of the Ronin Warriors muttered under their breaths while the Titans muttered "Slade" in an echoing fashion.

"Time for the Ronin Warriors to take up the fight once more," Ryo stated, resolve beginning to burn in his tiger blue eyes. He turned to his friends and ordered, "Ronins to arms."

In a flash the five were covered by the thin metal of their subarmors. The five warriors then turned to leave the Titans Tower when they were called back by Robin's stern voice, "We go in together as a team. If our enemies have joined forces against us, then it only makes sense to join forces against them to even out the fight."

"You don't know the Dynasty like we do," Ryo growled out, impatient to begin their battle.

"And you don't know Slade like the Titans," Aqualad replied diplomatically in return. "If we take the opportunity to work together, then all of us can go home sooner."

"Let's split into groups and take down as many of the enemy troops we can," Rowan planned outloud to cover the tension spread between the two leaders. "We'll split up the city so that we can cover more ground."

"I'll go with Robin," Sage stated immediately. This began the split of the two teams into smaller, more mobile fighting pairs and trios aimed towards as much destruction of the mindless pawns of their enemies. Once the teams were drawn up, they split the city into areas, and left their stronghold to save the world from evil once again.

--

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay in both this story and A Roll of the Dice. My summer has been super busy with working at a residential summer camp and all, I've barely had enough time to think let alone write. Now that the season is winding down though, I should be able to start updating more regularly. If anyone has any suggestions at all, about anything you know what to do! Just leave me a review with what you think, even flames are welcome Thanks!!


	9. Chapter 9

Visitors

Visitors

Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: Um, yeah, not mine.

Robin and Sage immediately took off at top speed to the north side of Jump City to take care of any disturbances that may be occurring on that side of the town. They ran into several small groups of mixed slade-bots and Dynasty soldiers, which they immediately took down without even pausing to give it a second thought. They were continuing on their way when a black bolt of lightning hit the pavement in front of them with a splintering force, halting their progress.

"Kale," Sage whispered under his breath before looking around them with sharp glances looking for the Warlord of Darkness.

The lightning was followed by cackling laughter which brought on the largest group of enemies that the pair had faced. The two teenaged heroes fought the soulless green soldiers of the Dynasty and the orange and black clad robots belonging to Slade that seemed to come in an endless stream. Slowly, the two began to tire, and as even more of their foes began to rush them, Robin reached into his belt compartment and found his hand coming back empty. The blonde and the ebony haired warriors maneuvered until they were standing back to back, breathing heavily.

"Come now Halo. Why don't you show your friend what you are really capable of," a dark voice came echoing from somewhere near the two heroes.

Robin looked over at his blonde friend as the mindless puppets swarmed around them menacingly. "If you have something that you're holding back, Sage now is as good a time as any to use it," he yelled over to his friend.

Sage nodded in agreement, face white with what appeared to be exhaustion before throwing his hands out in front of his body and yelling out, "ARMOR OF HALO! DAO REI!" The air was then filled with a bright green light, followed by a swirl of cherry blossoms which cleared to reveal Sage standing in his full green samurai armor. Robin gasped in recognition at the sight of the armor now encumbering Sage's limbs, and stood speechless as the swordsman sliced through many of their foes with a well placed attack that was laced with crackling electricity.

Suddenly, the remaining soldiers disappeared as a single figure dressed armor that looked like a jackal appeared in front of them. This stranger walked forward steadily, putting Sage on guard with his sword held at ready in front of his body. He was followed quickly by Robin who held his bo staff out in front of him defensively. As the lone figure approached, a new cackling laugh, this one filled with malice and evil joy, rent the air. Robin spared a glance sideways at his companion, and was surprised to see that he had blanched and was now looking very pale and sickly.

"Ah, Sage of the Halo. I'm pleased to see that you are well after our parting," the same voice as the second laughter cut through the air, echoing around the two figures and causing Robin to glance about nervously without knowing where the voice was coming from. Sage fell to his knees, sword dropping from his hand as his full armor vanished from sight. "Come now, I wish to see you in battle against your opposite."

Robin stood guardedly at his friend's side, confused as to what was happening, and heard the blonde whisper, "Go to hell bastard."

"I guess that your friend will just have to take your place then," the voice continued, seeming to have missed the blonde's comment. It then continued, "Attack the other!"

The lone warrior in front of the pair suddenly vanished from sight. Robin tightened his grip on his staff and crouched ready for almost anything. He felt a shift of air from his right, and quickly brought his staff around, just in time to catch the sharp edge of the mysterious warrior's sword, stopping it from taking off his head. The two continued fighting for several moments without any bantering passing between the opponents at all. At last the stranger broke through the Boy Wonder's defenses and managed to slice a cut into the bicep of his left arm.

"Look at your friend struggling, young Halo. Doesn't the hero in you wish to rush to his aid?" The clash of weapons continued as Sage watched on, his mind frozen in memory as the voice continued to taunt him. "I thought that you were too honorable to just sit on the sidelines watching like a true coward." Robin's staff was then batted from his gloved hands, and as he dove to recover the weapon Sage recognized the moves of the other Warrior as he was preparing to use his surekill. With a strangled shout the blond jumped in between the other two just in time to catch the dark lightning attack that had been aimed at the Boy Wonder. Sage's yell of pain then rent the air as the dark electricity raced through his body.

The cackling laugh echoed through the air once more as the Warrior of Halo collapsed to his knees as the attack ended. "That's more like it Halo. Save your friend by hurting yourself. Why don't you just use that armor of yours? Now that you've bonded with the Halo Amulet, you have even more power for me to analyze," the voice came from a single place this time, and when Robin glanced that way he saw the face of an old oriental man with white hair and goggles projected in a large scale from seemingly nowhere.

"Shinkisen, you bastard," Sage growled out between his tightly clenched teeth as he drug himself to his feet. "You're supposed to be dead. What happened, the demons decided you were too good to burn in hell?"

Sage then was forced to catch the edge of Kale's sword with the gauntlets of his subarmor as he was attacked in response of his comment. "Don't you speak like that to Master Shinkisen," the jackal warrior growled into the blonde's face.

Sage's eyes closed for a moment before another swirl of cherry blossoms filled the air and he caught the warlord's sword with his own blade. "If you want a fight so badly, Kale, here I am, ready to best you once again with only my No-dachi against yours. Are you ready to be beaten?"

"You can always try," the warlord retorted, trying to hit Sage in the side with the claw on his right gauntlet, only to have it caught by Robin's bo staff.

"Don't count me out yet," the Boy Wonder growled out, beginning to aid Sage by also attacking their adversary.

The fight continued with flashing blades and flashes of light filling the air for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally Robin was flung into the side of a nearby building by a well placed sweep of Kale's sword. He drug himself to his feet, shaking his head forcefully in an attempt to clear his vision, and began running to the two remaining fighters as Sage was once again caught in the Warlord of Darkness's dark lightning attack. To his horror, this attack was more prolonged, and though at first the green-armored warrior took the pain silently, a tortured scream eventually tore from his throat. When the crackling electricity vanished, Sage was left on the cracked concrete barely conscious. The Warrior of Darkness picked up the Warrior of Light by his throat and squeezed so that the blonde had problems breathing.

"Look who's beaten now," Kale sneered into his enemy's face.

"Yeah, look at you tough guy," a new voice came from the side of the street. "Waiting to attack until you wore them down so you can handle them, just like a coward." A blur of yellow came racing past, and Kale dropped Sage once more as he received a powerful kick to his side, and turned to find Kid Flash standing bravely in front of him, ready to fight.

"That and attacking the one that was injured to begin with," another cocky voice added to the fray along with an arrow bouncing off the warlord's helmet. They looked up to see Speedy standing on top of the same building Robin had crashed into only moments before.

A shining golden arrow struck at Kale's feet and he looked up when he heard Rowan's Bronx accented voice say, "But your biggest mistake Kale? That would be attacking my best friend."

The jackal armored warlord took a step back, and grimaced. "Another time then heroes. Go lick your wounds and I'll be waiting for our next fight." He then turned on his heel, and vanished into thin air.

Rowan, still covered in his dark blue armor, ran to Sage's side, and gently rolled the blonde onto his back, taking stock of the dents that had been banged into his armor during their battle. Speedy and Kid Flash checked Robin over to see if he had any major injuries that they should worry about, but thankfully they only discovered that the Boy Wonder had a concussion from the collision with the wall. They turned back to see that the two Ronin Warriors had dismissed their full armors in favor of only wearing their subarmors, and were both now standing, Sage with his arm around Rowan's shoulder to keep him from falling over.

"Come on, everyone's back at the Tower," Speedy informed both Sage and Robin, and turned on his heal to lead the way back to the T shaped headquarters building while the young speedster scouted ahead so that they did not run into any more difficulties.

Back at Titan's Tower, everyone seemed to be a little battered and bruised, but overall the worst injuries of the day were those taken by Sage and Robin as they battled Kale.

"Sage, obviously you have met with the old sorcerer that we saw on the street today. Who is he and why did he seem so interested in you?" Robin asked once everyone had gathered together in the common room of the Tower. The Boy Wonder was surprised when the blonde Warrior of Halo's face paled further than it already was from exhaustion and pain, followed by him crossing his arms across his chest in an almost defensive manner.

"Old sorcerer?" Ryo asked curiously, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"I think that he was called Shinkaisen, or something like that," Robin elaborated, further confused when all the Japanese warriors flinched at the sound of the name.

"That bastard is back again?!" Kento exclaimed. "I thought that he had died after the fight when his laboratory flooded!"

"He's back," Sage whispered, voice sounding tortured, "They always come back, especially the worst of them."

Rowan put a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder before carefully explaining, "Shinkaisen is an old sorcerer/scientist that kidnapped Sage last year, and conducted experiments on him for weeks before we caught a news report that showed his armor attacking people in the back alleys of New York. We went as quickly as we could, and rescued him from the bastard's clutches. He had kept his lab in the sewer, and as we left, it flooded as all his equipment blew up. We thought that he had perished in the blast as well, but I guess not, now that he's back again."

"So now he's chosen to join forces with you Nether Warlord and Slade to try to defeat us all," Raven finished, tying both the explanation and question together.

"So now we just have another of our most hated enemies that have joined forces in order to defeat us. We will defeat them all though, we have too, it's the only choice that we can make," Robin stated bluntly. "The first step towards our goal is for the rest of you warriors to bond with your respective amulets. at least that's what Shinkaisen's comments made it sound like would give you guys more power. We'll rest for tonight, and then work on it in the morning."

A/N: It's back to school time! At least this means that I may be able to update more regularly. Please R&R!!


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